This fatality that took place in 2007 has recently been dealt with in court, where some of the charges involved were dismissed. However, the trucker driving the coal rig at the time of the accident is still facing other serious charges.
A 40-year old coal trucking company owner was initially charged with permitting homicide by vehicle, murder by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 36-year old woman. These are the charges that have been dismissed, but there are still six summary charges remaining.
The woman was attempting to make a turn onto the highway when the driver of a coal truck, a 39-year old man rear ended her car, killing her on impact and seriously injuring her son. The driver was working for the coal trucking company owner charged in this debacle, explained the New York Trucking Accident Lawyer.
This case was one of the first of its kind to be charged the way it was – permitting homicide by vehicle for knowingly allowing an unsafe coal truck on the highway. Put another way, if the owner of an unsafe vehicle allows that vehicle on the road (and an accident happens), the owner may be held liable. There are no reports of similar accidents in The Bronx and Brooklyn, New York.
In this case, the coal truck’s brakes were not aligned, but the trucker driving the vehicle at the time of the accident didn’t use the brakes prior to the crash. The charges were dismissed, because the connection between the bad brakes and the accident could not be conclusively established. After the deadly wreck, the truck was inspected and several equipment violations were found, including defective brakes.
The owner of the coal trucking company still faces two counts of allowing the operation of a vehicle with faulty brakes and four counts of permitting operation with unsafe equipment.
Cases such as this need the compassionate and skilled representation of a New York Trucking Accident Attorney.
A New York Trucking Accident Attorney with experience in this area will know what to do to ensure you get justice and fair and equitable compensation. The Office of Stephen Bilkis and Associates can offer you support and guidance as well as a free consultation when you contact us at 1-800-NY-NY-LAW. We have offices in N York City, including Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx and in Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester County.